陳年舊事—跟這Sci-Fi 的情意結

請你猜一猜這套科幻電視劇“Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”是哪個年代的作品？ （tips: 從下文內容應可猜到）

這套電視劇對我很有意義，甚至可以說我是因它而被影響了一生！我沒有誇大，的確是源自一段往事……

在我三至五歲時，我爸因修讀碩士課程而舉家到了美國兩年。當時的電視劇繼電影“Star Wars” 後掀起了一陣科幻太空歷險熱，我最深刻的電視劇有“Battlestar Galactica” ，繼而便是這套“Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” ，那些戰機的外形特別令我著迷。

在我們一家從美國回港後不久的一個晚上，爸媽照常在我和弟弟睡了時在客廳看電視，早已臥在床上的我卻未有入睡，反而被外面客廳電視劇的聲音吸引著，那些激光鎗戰的聲音彷佛似曾相識。我定意下床出去看個究竟，發現原來三色台播映這套劇，當我還以為可以重溫這套「我最喜愛的電視劇」時，卻被爸媽阻止，要我立即回睡房睡覺。儘管無奈，一向聽話的我當然照他們的意思做，奇怪的是，我回到床上後不久竟不知為何腦子裡想著的不是這套電視劇的情節，卻是自己很多「唔聽話」的片段，而心裡激盪著一種後悔的情緒：為何我會這麼多「唔聽話」的時候？為何我會這麼壞？淚水隨著內心的悔過流下，繼而飲泣。在客廳的爸媽聽到孩子的哭泣聲便一起進來看個究竟，見到我飲泣，以為是因為他們不讓我看電視的緣故，我卻告訴他們我覺得自己很壞，很「唔聽話」！（現在想起自己竟會這樣想，很驚奇！不知道我這反應會否令爸媽驚訝呢？）結果，爸媽安慰我，指出人有罪性，亦教我向主耶穌求赦免，還帶我作了一個禱告，我便釋然了…到最後是我立即睡了，還是出去和他們一同看完劇集呢？我就記不起了…或者爸媽會有印象吧！弟弟…還是熟睡中zzz

這套劇引起的這個遭遇，在我長大後回顧我信仰歷程中重新回想起來，而且片段還印象深刻。這樣的經歷仿佛像一粒種子，種下了主的恩情在我心中，讓我自小明白悔過被接納的感覺。所以我最近動動腦筋找到這劇原來的英文名稱（因我一直只記得這套劇的中文名稱，現在身處異邦有時都不知怎去告訴我的外國朋友），最終都給我找到了這“Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”！ YEAH!! （在搜尋時，有趣地發現原來這劇取材自三十年代的一部漫畫小說，而這小說將會在明年拍成電影版！從宣傳資料所見，原著的造型風格跟電視版的很不同呢！）

最後考一考大家，知不知道這劇的中文名稱呢？其實它的英文名稱多少都給了點蛛絲馬跡的！開始及結尾共有兩條問題，看看有沒有人猜到啦！ ^_^

Love expression

I really appreciate the thoughtfulness and creativity of Connie for her beautiful Valentine gift to me this year. ^_^ This gift is so unique as there are fingerprints from all of us, featuring Elly's first Valentine...and also my fingerprints: It's funny that Connie asked for my fingerprints while she was preparing the present. As the years go by, she is getting better and better in expressing love through handmade presents. I really need to catch up a bit! ^_^ Thank you again, my dear.

A terrible January

What a crazy January!! After a merry trip from Hong Kong, we suffered 2 weeks of jet lag. Not only Connie and I rested so little, but it was the kids who kept waking up early in the mornings (e.g. 3 am, being very energetic) Now we know the 'pain' of taking kids on a trip is not during the flight, but to endure the jet lag afterwards.

I fell sick probably due to the restlessness of this new rhythm of life. It was most likely a fiercesome flu which struck me down for more than 10 days!! Those days were really dark: Sleep...get up for classes...eat little...sleep again. School work came to an halt. Connie, Abby and Elly moved to the study room. I was 'quarintined'.

I really feel bad for not bing able to take care of the family. I haven't been so sick for a long time, which made me really treasure a healthy body. Now I'm still feeling weak...keep wearing 4 layers of clothes all the time. May this dark time be gone soon.

Dear God, you are the giver of life. May your light shine upon me. Cast away the darkness in me.

The Cheng's Recent Updates (Nov-Dec)

Greetings to our dear friends,

As we enter the month of December, we know that Christmas is near! This year has been really exciting and blessed for us -- our second daughter, Eliana, was born in August! In the past 4 months, we have been adjusting to our new roles and developing new family dynamics. Thanks to our beloved parents who have helped a great deal physically and emotionally throughout these months. We shall continue to work hard to be good parents of Abby and Elly.

Elly is a contented and cheerful little girl, and has brought us lots of joy and heartwarming moments. She seems to be a sociable kind of girl like her big sister, who loves to coo and smile back to others! Whenever she has company and attention, she can be very satisfied and happy. We all love her more and more day by day!

Abby has been a great big sister to Elly! She loves to talk to her, entertain her when Elly seems bored, and comfort her when Elly cries. Abby herself has reached a lot of milestones in the past year and has been speaking much more clearly. As she started going to preschool in September, her comprehension of English has been coming along well! We are so amazed at the fact that she is such a big girl now.

Philip has almost finished the first term of his second year at Regent College. During this past year, he has gone through a period of searching for God's will in his future vocation, which is extremely important in this journey with God. With prayers and signs from God, he decided to switch from MDiv to MCS program, which means we shall be staying for 1.5 years more in Vancouver, instead of 2.5 years more. It was revealed to him that children ministry would be something that he will spend much of his time to engage in. We thank God for this transformational process in helping us to know His plans with us.

This Christmas will be an exciting time for us, as we will be back to Hong Kong for 2.5 weeks! The main purpose is attending the Baby Dedication of Elly in our home church. We are so excited to be able to dedicate our daughter with 6 other kids from our same cell-group members! We are also excited about being able to meet with some of you in Hong Kong!

The Christmas story is a visitation story of God. He came not to judge us but bring us life!
May you be blessed by our God's love and wish your Christmas will be a warm and cheerful one!

Love from Connie, Philip, Abby and Elly

我心內的敗犬呼喊

The theme of the recent sermon series is "The wholeness of life". It touches on one important issue the unmarried Christians (singles) are easily misled nowadays: Singleness is less than truly human.

I am grateful to hear from the pulpit that the wholeness of life is to live a Christ-centered life (click for a revision). The biblical teachings never defined a person in terms of being married or not. What an important truth that is easily forgotten nowadays!!

Yet even among our congregation, I confess it is easy to be insensitive to brothers or sisters who are struggling with "being single". Our un-intentional words/gestures/actions may like salt sprinkling on the wound. As I reflect more on such struggles, I acknowledge it's not easy to go through the mixed emotions of being lonely, shameful, and regretful. The dynamics of loniness and yearning for intimacy play an important mood factor within. The feelings are so real to my past experience.

I notice a process of grieving should be involved in order for one to move on. The video made by the Art Dep (Click to view) well triggered the frustration one may face. I recall my own frustrations that overwhelmed me years ago that I found myself indulged in pornography and masturbation. Only when I realize the notion behind was about longing and intimacy, then I begin to see my real needs. Man, thank God for such a gracious revelation back in my days of struggle. It helped me to go through the grieving process quicker.

The recent Pastoral Care class on sexuality echoed with this sermon series. I was deeply touched by identifying the needs behind the issue:

A brief note from the lecture:
On Longing…a longing of intimacy with God…all our longings are symptomatic to our longing for God…if it’s not fulfilled, we will put expectations on other longings; and often the expectation is so much that you can’t be satisfied.

On Intimacy…we were made into intimacy…not just relationship, but also sharing of our inner selves…a quest to connect with right intimate relationships:
Relationship with creation / relationship with self / relationship with others / relationship with God

But twisted…e.g. longing for the relationship with creation becomes Mother Earth…‘Mother Earth’ (We should called it ‘sister’ or ‘brother’ earth instead ^_^)

Even now after getting married, I understand that the yearning for intimacy and longing is still present. Yet I thank God for giving me the chance for experiencing true relief in Him. For the past term at Regent, I see the reality of brokenness from sin, the grace that God has been showing, and the wholeness of life that can only be found in Jesus alone.


In practice, I'm learning to be intimate with God. Moreover, I'm learning how to be relational with others. I guess it takes my whole life to learn and experience well. I wish that WE can go further together.

從鬼王節到天堂門: A One-of-a-kind Halloween Party

This year, we had a one-of-a-kind Halloween this year in Vancouver.

How it all happened......
One October morning, I heard from the Chinese radio broadcasting about the coming of Halloween...in fact, I was surprised to hear the way Chinese people call it here: 鬼王節
Isn't it called 萬聖節 in HK? What's going on?

In fact, I had been wrong for a long time. Oct 31 was really a pagan festival. People used to believe a lord of death who sends evil spirits into animals to trick people; so people wore disguise to escape them and got involved with cruel ceremonies. That's why I hear the Chinese name 鬼王節 here. In contrast, historically, Christians attempted to change the event into a festival of joy. Nov 1 became ‘All Saints’ Day’ to remember the dead whom we love. Oct 31 then became ‘All Hallows’ Eve’. 萬聖節 (All holies / all the saints) In HK, 鬼王節 is packaged as 萬聖節 for commercial purposes.

This year, we had a chance to see something different.
Thanks to Oyan, my buddy at Regent, for inviting my family to an event held by his church on Halloween. We made a visit to heaven!! ^_^ Please take a look at the album, and you'll have a glimpse of our experience (Click me). The night was filled with one-of-a-kind activities that let us see the reality--Jesus is Lord.

Back in HK, we would see Halloween as a really commercialized event. In a spiritual sense, I even think of it as a connection with the evil spirits. Thank God for giving me a new perspective to see Halloween.

Reflection:
Does heaven look like this? The setting of this party may seem a bit Platonic and may not seem theologically/biblically 'right'. Yet I appreciate the thoughts behind this event. Historically, Christians have been countering culture by ‘reframing’ it with Christian’s perspectives. How can one respond to our culture nowadays? I would say this is all about how we can reframe it, like what we do in a pagan funeral / Ching Ming Festival. Instead of offering incense, we can pray for the family or have a moment of silence.

With our children, we can surely remember our loved ones who are actually alive with Jesus. Being thankful for God’s grace to our family/friends, we can take this opportunity to celebrate with our kids.

Other Christian groups (e.g. Lutheran) take this opportunity to tell the reformation story. They’d invite children and families to church to celebrate about their history.

What a great way to witness together as a community!

靚仔爸B

今晚飯後一家在看電視劇「與敵同行」，突然阿比望著螢幕的鄭嘉穎說：「好似爸B，叔叔。」我正為此會心微笑時，阿比媽媽再追問我們什麼相似，原來鄭嘉穎當時和我一樣正穿著一件背心……我似鄭嘉穎，就此而已！~_~
阿比媽媽還提起阿比以前話我似火車站廣告的陳豪，會否正正只是陳豪在廣告中的禿頭look，唉……阿比的觀察力真獨特！